Friendship is Magic: 1st Gear

by Akeno

Manehattan's Nightmare

Big Mac and Spike finally arrived in Manehattan, even if it had taken all day. The city lights of the towering Manehattan infrastructure were blinding to Big Mac, having never been to Manehattan before. The streets were packed, with some lanes even being bumper-to-bumper. He looked into his side mirror at Spike, in Applejack’s 1500. Spike looked a lot less fazed by the night life. Suddenly, Spike came in on Big Mac’s walkie-talkie.

“Big Mac! Can you hear me?” asked the dragon.

“Eyup!” hastily responded Big Mac.

“Let’s take a left here. There’s a meet going on underneath the Hooflyn Bridge,” said Spike. “Rarity and Coco have their garage just a few streets before that; we can leave the 1500 there!”

While Big Mac felt somewhat bad just dumping the GT500 on Rarity’s porch, he did want to see the car scene of south Manehattan.

“Eyup.”

They arrived at the garage owned by their friend, Rarity, and Coco Pommel, a Bridleway fashion designer and a dear friend of Rarity’s. The outside was completely contrasting to the surrounding architecture: tall marble pillars tracing the face of the building, and a set of three garage doors. Light bars were set above the windows, one of which displayed a set of Falcon tires. On the other display was a 90’s Civic hatchback with a—as Rarity would put it—simply divine bodykit and livery.

Spike knocked on the centermost garage door. It flew open, and a mare in a blue—though the pony wearing it would say “oxford” blue—coverall and a respirator stood before them.

“Spike! Darling!” she said.

Spike blushed profusely. “Hiya, Rarity.”

“What are you doing here? Oh, and I see you’ve brought Big Macintosh with you! Come, come inside!” she said, dragging them with her.

The inside of the garage was even more decadent. Polished tools hung above a scratched toolbench. A wide elevator slowly descended from the upper levels, the floors of which were glass, and a silver sports car with metallic purple accents could be seen through the glass, in a well-illuminated area of the shop. Another, much smaller car, sat across from it on the circular platform. On a nearby lift—one out of six empty lifts—was another compact underneath a spotless white sheet.

“Whoaa…” trailed Spike. He glanced at Big Mac. The stallion’s mouth was also hung agape.

“I’m glad you both find it impressive,” said Rarity. “But anyway, what was it you came here for? Surely it wasn’t just to chat—I was in Ponyville just a few days ago.”

“Um, actually, Rarity… We were wondering if you could repair the body for this Mustang?” asked Spike. “Pinkie Pie should’ve sent you the bill already.”

Rarity looked out the window at Big Mac’s car.

“Big Mac’s Mustang? It looks fine to me, darling,” Rarity said, confusedly.

“No, um… Big Mac, would you mind pulling the truck in here?” Spike asked sheepishly.

“Eyup,” said Big Mac.

He drove the truck through the garage doors, pulling the GT500 behind him.

Rarity let out a sharp breath. “Oh—Oh dear. I did receive bits already… Alright darlings, I suppose I could get to work on this now. You two can go, An artist needs time alone to ponder their muse.”

Spike’s eyes widened. “R-really?! Thank you so much!”

“Eeeeeyup!”

Having parked the 1500 by the bigger of the two sports cars, Spike and Big Mac got into the latter’s Mustang, and took off to the Hooflyn Bridge.

They arrived at the meet, underneath the bridge. Contrary to the Ponyville car scene, the majority of the cars at the meet were Euro makes. Big Mac parked the Mustang by somepony’s 370Z, and walked about, exploring the meet. They came across many sweet-looking cars; a riced Ion 3, a drag-tuned Avant RS 6, and a Bimmer that some mad creature had removed the hood from to attach a Dominator supercharger to name a few. After about half an hour of inspecting the function and talking to other enthusiasts, Big Mac and Spike returned to the Mustang, but were stopped in their tracks by the screech of tires. They turned around, to see two cars barreling towards them. One a late-nineties Porsche Boxster, and the other a black and neon-green Toyota MR2 MK2. The Boxster was badly scratched, and looked as if it were trying to escape from the MR2, the latter of which was stuck to the former’s bumper like glue. They approached a part of the road where the streetlamps didn’t work, and the pony behind the wheel of the MR2 turned their lights off. Suddenly, the Boxster began to swerve, almost drunkenly, creating a crunching sound. The road was once again illuminated, and the MR2 was leading, stringing along the poor Boxster, who was somewhat covered in a garbage bag and the bag’s contents, but finally, they crossed the spray-paint finish. The MR2 spun left, facing the Boxster, who had come to a halt. Both drivers exited their cars, a light-blue Pegasus from the MR2 and an orange Unicorn from the Boxster. The Pegasus wore a coat that matched her car, with around fifteen of the emblems of various car manufacturers sewn onto the sleeves.

“You know the deal, Suncharge,” said the Pegasus.

Suncharge hung his head as the Pegasus pulled out a razor blade. Very carefully, she removed the Porsche badge from the Boxster.

“Now, go on,” she said, chuckling. Soon, her expression changed. “My first Porsche. You’ll go right here…” she trailed off, muttering to herself.

Spike and Big Mac watched the defiled Boxster meekly leave the meet. The two decided to approach the rambling Pegasus.

“Hey, what’s your problem?” asked Spike. “Why’d you do that to that guy’s car?”

The Pegasus glared at them. Suddenly, her face contorted, and she grinned at the two. “Who’s asking? Do they want me to do the same thing to their cars? Ha, listen, kid; I’m on a mission. I want to get to the top. My team and I’ve been traveling across Equestria to race every record holder. So far, we, the Washouts, haven’t lost a single race.”

Big Mac grimaced. Spike opened his mouth to say something, but on the opposite side of the meet, he was interrupted by the roar of engines, and headlights pierced the crowd. Two cars skidded toward the newly-formed crowd around the MR2; a mid 2000’s Mercedes-Benz SLR and a Lexus LFA. A gray Earth Pony wearing a magenta bow-tie stepped out of the SLR and a white Unicorn wearing sunglasses followed out of the LFA.

“What’s going on here?” asked the gray mare, as she approached the MR2 driver.

Spike felt his palms sweat. Though he considered himself an intermediate driver at best, he could feel the auras of the two masters that stood before him. He looked to Big Mac. The stallion was sweating bullets.

The blue pony chortled. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Octavia Melody,” said the mare. “I’m the current record holder for the Manehattan drift circuit.”

“So, what was that about racing every record holder?” Spike asked smugly.

“Ha… I’ll just keep the winning streak up and come back when I can beat you,” said the other pony, jamming a hoof at Octavia. She climbed into her MR2, but before taking off, she rolled down her window. “And I’ll come back for you,” she said to Big Mac and Spike. “I’m always open to crushing another Mustang.”

She did a quick donut, and by the time the tire smoke cleared, the MR2 was gone. The crowd dispersed, but meanwhile, Octavia and the LFA driver walked toward Spike and Big Mac.

“I’m terribly sorry for interrupting your conversation with that Pegasus,” said Octavia. “But I saw poor Suncharge and his Boxster—I came here to see who it was that did that to him.”

“No, it’s okay,” said Spike. “Big Mac’n I were probably gonna get kinda heated if you hadn’t shown up. Thank you. Hey, is that an SLK55?”

“Close,” said Octavia, giving the dragon a soft smile. “That is my SLR.”

Big Mac and Spike had stars in their eyes.

“Sorry,” said Spike, sheepishly. “We both drive American cars—EDMs aren't my strong suit and Big Mac here only knows Mustangs.”

“Oh? Is that your’s over there, Big Mac?” asked Octavia.

“Eyup!” said Big Mac.
Octavia glanced at the Unicorn, who was bobbing up and down enthusiastically. “Oh—My apologies. This is Vinyl.”

The boys waved.

“Vinyl’s just my—Nevermind. Anyway, We’ll be seeing you both,” said Octavia, as she and Vinyl climbed into their respective cars, and like bullets, they shot into the star-soaked night.

“Well, I guess we could take off, too,” Spike said to Big Mac. “I have things to tend to at Twilight’s castle and I doubt Applejack is eager to cover for you for another day.”

“Eyup,” affirmed Big Mac.

They both climbed into the Mustang, and left the meet.

They drove en route to Ponyville. The night air was fresh. Luna would lower the moon in about five hours, and the road was completely empty. Suddenly, in the left corner mirror, Spike noticed moonlight reflecting off of some sleek, metallic thing. Hastily, he nudged Big Mac.

“Hey, uh, Big Mac? Do you see that shiny thing behind us?” he asked his friend.

“N…Nope,” said Big Mac, rapidly checking his six.

The unidentified driving object soon creeped up to Big Mac’s Mustang like fog on a cold window. As it got closer, Spike finally got a better look at what it was. Jet-black, and a blacklight underglow. Spike felt his heart sink as the dead-silent Nissan Skyline GTR R-33 passed them, and like magic, the road before them warped like a wormhole. In an instant, they were back on Rarity’s street in Manehattan.

“Nope,” said Big Mac.

The R33 cornered tightly, and drove right through the garage doors of Rarity’s shop, phasing through them. Suddenly, Spike heard a high pitched, transatlantic scream from inside the shop.

“Rarity!” he cried.

He leapt out of Big Mac’s mustang—the latter of whom hastily followed—and ran toward the shop. Before they could enter, the garage doors flew open, and the shriek of a boosted engine filled the air, canceling out all other noise. Then, the once silver car—now jet-black, with the same underglow as the R33—tore out of the shop and throughout the Manehattan streets.

“No!” screamed a mare from inside the shop.

The mare ran out. She was a light-tan color with a light blue mane, slightly smaller than most adult ponies. Spike recognized her from the time that Rarity forced her friends to become a sweatshop.

“Ms. Pommel!” shouted Spike. “What happened?!”

Coco had tears welling up in her eyes.

“This black cloud was absorbed by Rarity!” she screamed.

“Nightmare!” said Spike. “We have to chase her! We’ll be back!”

Spike ran back to the Mustang, but before Big Mac could turn the ignition, Coco spoke up.

“I’ll follow you,” she said.

Spike nodded. Big Mac floored the accelerator, following the skid marks that Nightmare—possessing Rarity—left in their wake. In his rear-view mirror, Big Mac saw the other car from the shop—the infamously compact Suzuki Cappuccino—bolt through the doors. It was a platinum color, with a somewhat comically large wing behind it. Despite its whimsical appearance, he could tell that she—both the car and Coco—meant business.

They finally caught up with Nightmare, though it wasn’t as tough a challenge as expected; though Rarity’s car looked fast—and probably was, Nightmare/Rarity seemed to be manipulating the transmission lever like she was rabid, audibly near-stalling out. By the way she was driving, Big Mac knew there was now chance she’d pull over.

“Spike,” he said. “You remember when that other black car sent us back to Rarity’s shop.”

Spike looked at his friend with wide eyes. “The GT-R R33? How could I forget? It happened just a few minutes ago.”

“And it drove through the doors without so much as a scratch. Ah reckon it ain’t got those powers in Rarity’s car…”

“Big Mac? What are you thinking of doing?” worriedly asked Spike.

“This ‘ere’s two-lane highway my Mustang is long enough. Ah’ll stop ‘er,” said Big Mac.

“Big Mac?!”

Big Mac grew more firm on the accelerator, and as soon as he was some car-lengths in front of Nightmare Rarity, he swerved his car, blocking the road. True to his hypothesis, she didn’t warp away from him, nor did she phase through him, but instead she slowed down completely. Coco stopped with her, blocking her from simply going in reverse. Nightmare Rarity stepped out of her car, and the three finally got a good look at her.

“Out of my way!” she snarled.

“Nope,” said Big Mac, flatly.

Suddenly, Spike had an epiphany.

“Wait,” he said. “Let’s make a deal. You’ve already got one Element of Harmony. Race us, and if you win, we’ll give you the rest. If we win… You have to let Rarity go.”

Nightmare Rarity cackled. “And who are thee, little drake, to place that wager?”

“Someone who has access to the other Elements,” said Spike confidently.

“Who will you send to race me?” asked Nightmare Rarity, her interest clearly caught.

“Me,” announced Coco.

Nightmare stared at Coco as if she were some filly playing make-believe. Suddenly, she began roaring with laughter.

“Spare me! I could walk faster than that toy,” she said snidely.

“Then you have no problem racing me,” said Coco. “Here, in four hours.”

Nightmare Rarity’s sneer vanished. She climbed back into her car, and once Big Mac moved his, she took off. Meanwhile, Coco dropped to her hind legs, her hooves on her head.

“AHH! What was I thinking!?” she wailed.

Spike ran over to comfort her. Eventually, she calmed down.

“Okay… I have four hours until I have to race Rarity,” she said. “Excuse me, you two. I need to prepare.”

“Eyup.”

“You got it. We’ll be here when you race, and we’ll try to help any way that we can,” said Spike. “Thank you for challenging her.”

Coco got into her Cappuccino and turned back for Manehattan, leaving Spike and Big Mac to themselves.

“Big Mac! We have to get to Ponyville, right away!”

Where the trip would’ve taken a full day of travel any other time, Big Mac and Spike—fortunate enough to be clear of traffic—made it in just over two hours.

“Alright!” said Spike. “Drop me off here!”

Big Mac pulled up to a foliage-topped cottage, and Spike got out, running toward the door. As he knocked on the door, his nerves were so tense he felt as if he would break a hole through it. Finally, a pink-maned yellow Pegasus opened the door.

“Spike? what are you doing here,” asked Fluttershy, her voice soothingly soft.

“Fluttershy! I need your Element of Harmony,” Spike blurted out. “And do you know where Rainbow Dash is?”

Fluttershy looked panicked, whether it was because Spike was shouting or because of his insane request.

“What? Why?” asked Fluttershy.

Spike took in a breath.

“NightmarecamebackandpossessedRarityandmeandSpikeandCocoPommelaregoingtofightherandweneedtheelements!”

“Never thought I’d say this, but slow down,” said a voice from Fluttershy’s living room. “Here, I trust you.”

A blue foreleg raised from the lounge sofa in the living room. In its hoof was a golden pendant with a red lighting bolt in its center. The pony tossed it over to Spike. Fluttershy sighed.

“I guess if Dashie is willing to go along with this, I will too,” said Fluttershy, as she summoned a similar pendant, with a pink butterfly as the center gem.

She handed it to Spike, and the dragon thanked her and the blue pony profusely. Meanwhile, Big Mac had driven all the way to Sweet Apple Acres in order to get the Element of Honesty from his sister. As soon as he got to the farm, he burst into Applejack’s room.

“NightmarecamebackandpossessedRarityandmeandSpikeandCocoPommelaregoingtofightherandweneedtheelements!”

Applejack rose her head toward him, her face muscles doing their very best to pull her eyes open.

“Ya had a nightmare? Ain’t you a grown stallion?” She was entirely dumbfounded. “And ya need my Element of Harmony?”

Applejack probably thought she was still dreaming. Anythecase, she produced her Element and handed it to Big Mac. Quickly and quietly, he ran out of the farmhouse and back to his car.

Coco rolled up to the peak of the mountain pass. Big Mac and Spike waited there for her, their Mustang and Viper behind them. They handed her a small wooden chest, its contents; the Elements of Kindness, Loyalty, and Honesty—ironic since Spike had lied to Nightmare about giving her all five.

“When you go up against Nightmare, you’ll want to have these, even if you can’t use them they will still somewhat protect you,” said Spike. “Oh! And one more thing…”

He opened the passenger door of his Viper and pulled out a gold necklace with a red crystalline heart in the center.

“I just thought it’d come in handy,” he said, blushing. “Rarity really likes it.”

Coco piled the jewelry in the passenger side of her car, and it wasn’t long before Nightmare Rarity pulled in. The two cars lined up side-by-side, and Big Mac stood between them.

“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… EEEYUP!”

The cars shot from the starting line, and instantly Nightmare Rarity took the lead. However, instead of completely dusting the Cappuccino, the sports compact stayed stuck to the leader’s bumper as if it were welded there.

“Impossible!” growled Nightmare Rarity.

The dream demon tried to take corners as intense as Rarity’s car would let her, but it was no use. Wherever it went, the Cappuccino went too.

“Ugh!” snarled Nightmare. “It’s that blasted wing! That toy is already lightweight. With that spoiler it has superior control!”

You taught me that yourself, Rarity, thought Coco, practically reading Nightmare’s mind. Of all of the factors that make a car fast, it isn’t hoofpower that was the most important. It’s weight and aerodynamics. And compared to your 240SX, I’ve got you beat!

While she’d lose Coco on the straightaways, Nightmare Rarity would always find the Cappuccino’s headlights breaking through the tint of her window. As they drifted through the corners, Coco’s mind drifted away from the race. She began to think about Rarity.

You were kind to me in the fashion competition, even when I helped sabotage you. You stuck with me when I wanted to revive the park plays. When I’ve ever bit off more than I could chew, you told me what I needed to hear. You’re an incredible friend. And I wouldn’t be deserving of your friendship if I just let you be like this.

Unbeknownst to Coco, the contents of the box next to her began to shimmer. As the next corner approached them, they accelerated into a drift. In just a matter of moments, the Elements were glowing radiantly, but she wasn’t paying attention. Meanwhile, Nightmare Rarity glared at Coco through their side windows. However, she felt different… Weaker, even. Then, through the tint of the window, she could see it; the Fire Ruby. A gem that symbolized Spike’s love for Rarity. Her glare broke, replaced with the face of distraught. Her eyes darted back to Coco, trying to build her anger back up, but to her shock, the sand-colored mare was staring right back at her.

In her distraction, she lost control of her 240SX. The black respray began to chip away, and the underglow fizzled out. Rarity slammed on the brakes, spinning out. She laid back in her seat as a black cloud seeped out of the car. Coco quickly stopped her own vehicle, and rushed to Rarity’s.

At the top of the mountain, Big Mac and Spike watched as two sets of headlights sat on the road. The race was over. In the distance, Spike saw a blacklight glow under a metallic-black blur appear once again, driving away.

Author's Note:

Name: Octavia Melody (Circuit record holder: Manehattan Drift Course)
Car: 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
Hp: 617
Weight (KG): 1750 (3860 LBS)
Top Speed (KMH): 335 (208 MPH)

Name: Vinyl Scratch
Car: 2012 Lexus LFA
Hp: 553
Weight (KG): 1480.1 (1480.072, 3263 LBS)
Top Speed (KMH): 325 (202 MPH)

Name: (Miss) Coco Pommel
Car: 1993 Suzuki Cappuccino (Twincharged + VTEC head conversion)
Hp: 102
Weight (KG): 732.1 (1614 LBS)
Top Speed (KMH): 146.45 (91 MPH)

Name: Nightmare (Tantabus)
Car: Nissan Skyline GTR R33 (Whatever their vessel is using) Nissan 240SX SE (Nightmare Rarity) (Unknown Modifications)
Hp: Varies
Weight (KG): Varies
Top Speed (KMH): Varies